AS the clocks go back and we head into winter, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra brings sunshine into the concert hall at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre with Sunshine Symphonies, on Wednesday 4th November.

The event is supported by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s new Corporate Patron, Paris Smith, one of the largest regional full-service law firms in the south. The concert features Beethoven’s Second Symphony, Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Prokofiev’s First Symphony. It will be led by the BSO’s Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth and welcomes the return of award-winning pianist Boris Giltburg.

At the heart of the programme is Beethoven’s Second Symphony, part of the BSO’s Road to Joy series, a two-year celebration of Beethoven’s music marking the composer’s enduring influence ahead of the bicentenary of his death in 2027. Written at a time when Beethoven was confronting increasingly serious hearing impairments, the work is remarkable for its vitality, humour and exuberance, with music that seems to find joy despite the difficult circumstances in which Beethoven was living.

BSO chief executive Dougie Scarfe says: “We are delighted to welcome Paris Smith as a new Corporate Patron of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Corporate support helps us to bring live orchestral music to audiences across the South and South West.”